More and more people in the Netherlands want to live in the so-called Randstad. This results in a need for densification in Dutch cities. One of the solutions for this is building more high-rise residential buildings. High-rise buildings provide amazing views and house many people on a small plot of land. They do however, have some downsides. According to their residents, the circulation space can be impersonal and the use of the elevator can be experienced as annoying. Even though this is the place to see and meet your neighbours. It has also been proven that there is a relationship between living in a high-rise and poor mental health of children. And lastly, high-rise dwellings are often seen as a home to eventually move on from, to an owner-occupied home, which results in a lack of connection between the residents and the building. This graduation project aims to rethink the current way of living in high-rise buildings to make it more suitable for families with young children by answering the following research question: How can a high-rise residential building contribute to improving the living environment of children in cities while stimulating a sense of belonging to a high-rise community in Rotterdam? As a result of the research a set of design tools and guidelines is developed to form the base for the design process. The final result is a high-rise residential building in the centre of Rotterdam that is suitable for children of different ages and encourages social interaction to increase the sense of belonging to a high-rise community.

The design of BIND BY WATER promotes a new way of living in which we rethink the integration of living and bathing into one building. By reimagining the bath as a shared space, the unique timbre of the project offers a space of synthesis, vulnerability, and reconciliation, where the armor of everyday life is abandoned together with one’s clothes. The project offers a wide variety of dwelling typologies for the heterogeneous group of solo dwellers (the project's target group). With the typologies containing no, limited, or an "extravagant" bathroom. The communal bathing facility on the ground floor provides a stimulating environment for spontaneous and improvisational communal exchange. Fostering community building amongst the ever-growing group of solo dwellers in which communal space becomes an imperative part of their daily routine.

Sharing in the built environment is a practice that takes place on different levels. In this design and research, these different levels are explored and an ideal condition for sharing is designed in the M4H area.

Synanthropic Habitats originates from the interdisciplinary quest on ‘how will we live together’ and the personal fascination to critically question the deeply-rooted anthropocentric binary of human (us) and nature (them). The thesis aims to establish an innovative domestic environment that deals with the heterogeneity of people of different backgrounds while reflecting upon the global urgency of the Anthropocene by interacting with nature in a blended game of cohabitation. The project forms its wider problématique from an amalgam of constituent problems deriving from Rotterdam and specifically Blijdorp as the site under investigation. The high traffic lane that dichotomizes the site, the noise and pollution of the nearby railway station, the large undefined spaces in tandem with the prevailing social degradation, and the need for affordable housing provision are a few of the identified issues of the project’s location. As a response, the Synanthropic Habitats attempts to develop a new paradigm for Dutch housing design, based on the triptych of hofjes as a type, thresholds as interfaces, and cooperatives as nomos. The project draws from the long tradition of Dutch hofjes as an archetypical sustainable domestic milieu, the epistemologies and multiscalarity of threshold as a key tool to create zones of encounter, and the non-speculative forward-thinking model of cooperatives to shape a framework within which a multi-storey building with integrated nature, a variety of households and common spaces will flourish. Towards that direction, literature research on the topics, typo-morphological analyses of relevant precedents as well as in-situ observations are employed as methodological tools to conclude in spatial and theoretical aspects contributing to an ecology of inclusion in the design. Utilizing and revisiting the pre-existing type of the hofje, inflected with the threshold character of commons creation and the pragmatic scenario of devising cooperative tenure generate an evidenced-based dwelling design that is as much of a site-specific architectonic product as a universal proposition to be adopted across contexts.

A financialized housing market entails systemic shortage of affordable housing. Rotterdam’s continuous increase of real estate prices is a case in point: despite its high share of social housing, today Rotterdam faces a shortage of affordable dwellings for lower income groups. How can collective housing design promote social inclusion and reduce the ecological footprint of its residents? To answer these challenges, the TU Delft master level housing design studio operates under the “what if” scenario of a cooperative economy for a neighborhood in Blijdorp. Inspired by the cooperative housing designs in Zurich, such Kalkbreite (2014), the studio conceives of housing laboratories that offer shared spaces to the surrounding neighborhoods and the entire city. Its overarching goal is to relate design, non-speculative housing models and participatory governance. How can a housing project function as a socially inclusive, ecologically sustainable, and economically viable neighborhood operating under the premise of long-term non-speculation? How does this approach impact on the understanding of design knowledge? This graduation project transforms an existing building, the Emmahuis, into a neighborhood center and housing complex that combines owner-occupied maisonettes with a housing cooperative for intergenerational co-living. Besides a collective roof terrace for the residents, the ground floor offers a multitude of shared and collective facilities such as community workshops, open office areas, a public library, and commercial shops. These facilities provide a meeting point for the residents and a micro-centrality for the Blijdorp neighborhood, aiming to amplify a sense of collectiveness among different income and interest groups.

How can collective housing design encourage social inclusion? From an ecological perspective, the housing of socially disadvantaged and transformation of post-war mass housing is explored. Socially disadvantaged people such as the formerly homeless have often difficulties integrating into a new living environment and need a more stable environment. This project aims to provide spaces of interaction as well as seclusion. Productive and collective spaces like a car maintenance shop, a multistory café, urban farming and a canteen allow the residents to come into both formal and informal contact with each other and the neighbourhood. A carefully crafted circulation space as well as differentiation in dwelling typologies allows for chance meetings between a heterogeneous group of residents.

There is currently a "crisis of care" in our neoliberal capitalist society in which women are disproportionally affected and experience isolation in their homes trying to take care of their family members. For low-income households, the struggle involves balancing their time to work and also taking enough care of their family. Co-operative housing tenure could offer these households both affordable housing and support within the housing project with care. For this research I would explore the following question; How can a fourth-wave feminist housing concept with co-operative housing tenure organise social reproduction spaces to support low-income families who need more time for care? The first wave of feminists utilised architecture to realise their ideas for gender equality, but some also maintained the separation between gender and exclusion of lower-class citizens. The second and third-wave feminists managed to further equal access of all genders to domains dominated by men, but they lost the spatial connection as to why women are economically obstructed from financial independence. Now during the fourth wave, there is a crisis of care related to the distance between facilities and housing, the speculation of real estate and the financial disadvantages of women. The conclusion to this research is a housing concept in which a housing and a work co-op offer the residents different spaces and facilities that offer communal and individual care forms and expression.

Waste pollution is becoming an ever increased challenge and this is even more so the case in Indonesia. Landfills are notoriously overfilled which, together with little spatial opportunity for appropriate waste storage and separation on a local scale, as well as a lack of knowledge leads to a majority of waste being disposed of on road sides, rivers or burned openly. The project ‘crafting the disused’ focuses on waste flows and a proposal to support recycling by means of spatial facilities, encouraging the recycling of waste into new materials for the built environment on a decentralised scale. Using only local materials such as bamboo and the locally produced waste as construction material, the design is organised around the community with a self-built approach and as a means to facilitate future densification and enabling the local community to organise their own waste management. Split into a waste storage and recycling facility and a reprocessing facility, local inhabitants are encouraged to consider their approach to waste and furthermore to use this in a creative way, while also generating income for the neighbourhood by means of an integrated waste bank. Key of the project is to clear the current waste pollution and diminish the stigma of waste as something ‘unwanted’ but instead as a new material that can be shaped to desire.

Graduation thesis on the implementation of micro-housing on repurposed ground in the Ladbroke Grove area, in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Central London.

In the Advanced Housing Design Studio we explored how housing design can successfully address the challenge of reducing the ecological footprint of its residents and assure social inclusion. In this studio an emphasis was put on the housing concept of collective living. A cooperative housing concept that offers the opportunity to create a living environment that meets the needs and wishes of the future dwellers and encourages the use of shared and collective spaces. My experiment in this studio was finding an equilibrium, a balance between different household types with different habitational needs in an existing monotonous block. For my research I looked into a way of placing the different household types or one can say social groups together without causing an unpleasant living environment. Whilst on the contrary bolster a close-knit and sustainable community.

The Home of Art aims to bring creativity back to Keilehaven, creating a direct link to the rich history of the area’s innovative, cultural, and creative aspects. The project adjoins a mixed program of living, working, creating, and producing within its building layers. The architectural qualities applied in the Home of Art address the socio, spatial, and financial requirements of future tenants. This is achieved by basing the design on creativity as collective production, bringing people together by introducing art and creation as the medium of social infrastructure throughout the space. Therefore, the Home of Art in its design represents a new model of creative participation, forming both a community inside the building and within the local area.

Social infrastructure is crucial in repairing the fractured societies of today. Fragmentation of lifestyles has resulted in limited social networks between people from different backgrounds. A robust social infrastructure is critical to provide social connections and prevent friction between social groups, especially in multicultural settings. This research aims to identify the conditions that contribute to a robust social infrastructure when combining residential and manufacturing spaces. The focus is on the social infrastructure within a neighborhood, a mixed-use building block, and a residential building. The research is divided into three parts, developing a theoretical framework, investigating the neighborhood of Kralingen West in Rotterdam, and analyzing mixed-use and dwelling case studies. The neighborhood investigation contains participant observations. The participant observation gives insight into the spatial and programmatic qualities that resonate with social interaction. The research supports a design assignment in Merwevierhavens Rotterdam, which involves a mixed-use development combining urban manufacturing, residential settlements, and public facilities. The findings are translated into design strategies for the project. Public amenities are essential in promoting social cohesion in multicultural neighborhoods by providing opportunities for social interaction between different social groups. The layout of dwellings, where the dwellings are connected with the pubic environment, and specific spatial conditions also significantly stimulate social interaction and build trust between residents. Mixed-use development promotes social inclusion by encouraging public contact between different social groups. Transparent manufacturing and a common architectural language can contribute to a shared identity and promote a sense of belonging. At the same time, a central pedestrian area with spatial conditions that encourage social interaction is essential for encounters between user groups. Promoting social encounters and interaction in residential developments is essential for community building. An open circulation system and shared spaces provide these opportunities. The cooperative model allows for incorporating a generous circulation system and shared spaces by being user-oriented. Efficiently designed dwellings compensate for generously designed circulation and shared spaces.

Anonymity in cities and a lack of architectural identity are some of the social-architectural challenges of our time, with profound consequences for urban life. Not only does architecture have a major impact on how we experience cities and buildings, it also has an impact on our health, wellbeing and behavior. The aim of this research is to find out how residential architecture can create identity and positively influence the mental and physical health of its inhabitants. This involves architectural design principles that can respond to users‘ conscious and subconscious needs to their living environment. An extensive literature search in the main areas of architectural psychology and active architecture provides insights into these issues. In addition, an analysis of case studies illustrates these issues and how they can be implemented spatially. The results show the great influence that architecture has on large parts of our lives. Among other things, it influences emotions, behavior patterns, health or the way people interact with each other. On this scientific basis, residential architecture can be designed to exert a positive influence on social, private and public life.

Co-Dwell is a project that emphasizes the co-living and co-working model as means for social cohabitation between Dutch starters and newcomers in Rotterdam as a multicultural city. It concentrates on smoothening the integration process of newcomers through involvement with the local community. The intention is to create an environment where people can benefit from each other’s knowledge and cultural experiences. A cooperative housing model will bring this idea to the reality with a subsidy from Rotterdam municipality. The two actors would supply the target group by affordable collective dwellings and collective work possibilities to give them a good start.

This project elaborates on the transformation design for a professional handball academy in the former Centraal Beheer building in Apeldoorn by Herman Hertzberger. It aims to discover the possibilities and limitations of this icon of Dutch Structruralism, using three different Heritage approaches for transformation being 'preservation', 'intervention' and 'addition'.

Standardisation in dwelling architecture has led to mass housing projects to be built within a short period of time. With increasing standardisation, the needs of the actual user of the building have been lost. Adaptable housing is a way of creating a more useroriented approach within the architecture of buildings. This research paper explores the concept of adaptable architecture design which all started with theories of Habraken and Brand. These were picked up by other theorists Schmidt III and Austin, and Schneider and Till who searched into implementations of adaptable architecture design with the actual benefits to the user. Four contemporary residential building projects are analysed of which are two greatly adaptable in dwelling plans and the other two are adaptable in matters of use. This research gives guidelines for the implementation of adaptable architecture to design with a user-oriented approach for a design project of working and living in the Merwevierhaven in Rotterdam.

In the future, cities will face many challenges. We need to densify our cities while at the same time preserve qualities and identities on different scales. One of these identities is that of craftsmanship and the rich industrial history of Amsterdam. The separation between living and working is outdated, especially for the growing part of the population that sees the benefit of working in their own business or as a freelancer. But the existing housing stock and urban planning do not reflect this need yet on a large scale. New types of housing that combine living and working should be developed to answer to this need. This approach is called live-work design, or zero-commute housing, and if done correctly it has many benefits for the people, as well as the city and the economy. The Zeeburgerpad is a site that is centrally located on the east of the old Amsterdam Stronghold ring, but has been neglected since it’s rich industrial history of small scale crafts business became obsolete after the Second World War. At the same time, craftsmanship is rapidly disappearing from our city-life and culture. Especially the production crafts that need large spaces and are therefore being pushed out to the perimeter of the city under the influence of rising prices of housing and workspaces. This is not only an issue for the people involved but also for the city as a whole, which needs diversity and small-scale businesses in order to remain healthy. Also, we need prevent the destruction of knowledge and cultural heritage that will irreversible if we don’t start integrating solutions for this in our urban fabric. In this master thesis I developed a proposal that re-introduces the small crafts business to the Zeeburgerpad in the more traditional way of living where you work. This proposal includes the collective use of a large woodworking workshop and its big machinery, dwellings that can be used in a flexible way according to the needs of the type of business and household composition, and shops and services on the ground floor. This strategy of combining collective use, collaboration, learning and shopping can bring the value of craftsmanship in our cities to attention, be a boost to the re-valuation of craftsmanship in our culture, and give craftsmen the opportunity to stay in the city center of Amsterdam.

How can a community of multi-generational solo dwellers and non-human species coexist near Rotterdam station today? The project “Togetherness” offers loft homes for starters, cluster apartments for middle and senior citizens, maisonettes for solo parents and habitats for bats. Considering different sharing capacities for each target group leads to the articulation of different layers of shared spaces, thus promoting various forms of cohabitation. The public spaces and collective facilities on the ground floor are open to residents and visitors. The co-living apartments contain shared living rooms and kitchens. Bats live in the interstices of the facade, resembling the mountain landscape.

This thesis explores and analyses the usage of modular architecture and mixed buildings and their role in solving the Dutch housing crisis. The Dutch housing market is in a crisis due to various reasons that can be solved partially in the design process and partially by regulation changes. The mixing of production and living has become more accessible due to new innovative manufacturing methods like 3D printing. The mixing of 3D printing and residential functions is relatively new, and there is a need to understand this manufacturing process to ensure a successful mix with residential functions. This paper uses Habitat 67, Nakagin Capsule Towers and Bremer Punkt as case studies to better understand modular architecture and its benefit. Modular Architecture brings multiple benefits, which are explored in this thesis. One of the architectural benefits is that it allows a building to be adaptable, flexible and affordable compared to traditionally built buildings.

In de huidige maatschappij worden producten na hun levensduur als afval gezien. Er wordt met een zodanig hoge snelheid een grote hoeveelheid afval geproduceerd dat dit niet op een natuurlijke manier verwerkt kan worden. Dit resulteert in mogelijke schade voor het milieu en de gezondheid van mensen. Deze situatie vraagt om een nieuwe benadering van bouwen en ontwerpen. Afval moet niet meer beschouwd worden als afval, maar als grondstof. Overal waar afval geproduceerd wordt, liggen kansen voor lokaal hergebruik. Om ervoor te zorgen dat resten niet schadelijk zijn voor de stad, moeten naar nieuwe mogelijkheden gekeken worden om met resten om te gaan. Door te streven naar een circulaire economie kan hergebruik gestimuleerd worden. Ontwerpers kunnen een belangrijke rol spelen bij een transitie van een lineaire naar een circulaire economie. Nu hergebruik een steeds belangrijkere rol begint te spelen, wordt er gezocht naar mogelijkheden om kringlopen te sluiten en een circulaire economie te stimuleren. Hierbij zijn voornamelijk technische vraagstukken in het geding waarbij het doel is om vraag en aanbod van bijvoorbeeld warmte of elektriciteit op elkaar af te stemmen. Voor ontwerpers komen technische vraagstukken in een ander kader te staan. De transitie van een lineaire naar een circulaire economie vraagt om nieuwe werkwijzen. Om uiteindelijk een ontwerp te kunnen maken dat gebaseerd is op een circulaire economie wordt in deze scriptie een stappenplan aangedragen. Als onderdeel hiervan is een tool ontwikkeld waarmee reststromen met behulp van een tool in kaart gebracht worden, zodanig dat deze hergebruikt kunnen worden in een ontwerp. Het ontwerp dat voortvloeit uit deze scriptie moet aantonen dat het mogelijk is om een ontwerp te maken dat gebaseerd is op restproducten. Het doel van het ontwerp is om reststromen en -producten van verschillende functies met elkaar in verbinding te brengen, zodat de discrepantie tussen vraag en aanbod opgeheven kan worden. Om bewustwording van de mogelijkheden van hergebruik te stimuleren zal het te ontwerpen gebouw een publieke functie krijgen, die afhankelijk is van het soort resten dat uit de directe omgeving beschikbaar is. De tool die in deze scriptie is ontworpen dient als hulpmiddel om uiteindelijk ontwerpvoorwaarden te formuleren voor het te ontwerpen gebouw. Vanuit meerdere mogelijkheden die op de locatie geboden worden voor een ontwerp, is de volgende ontwerpopgave geformuleerd: Het creëren van een tweedehands materialenmarkt waarbij de lokale bevolking de materialen kan gebruiken om eigen initiatieven in de openbare ruimte te ontwikkelen. Door het aangedragen stappenplan te volgen kon worden aangetoond dat vanuit het stedelijk metabolisme ontwerpvoorwaarden voor een gebouw geformuleerd kunnen worden. Hierbij wordt gebruik gemaakt van restproducten uit de omgeving die anders als afval gezien zouden worden. Voor het te ontwerpen gebouw vormen deze restproducten nieuwe mogelijkheden om de omgeving te verbeteren. Op deze manier dienen de restproducten weer als grondstof en is van afval geen sprake. Door de materialen binnen gesloten kringlopen te houden zal de stad op deze locatie meer functioneren als een natuurlijk ecosysteem. Het beoogde ontwerp maakt van de restproducten iets positiefs waar de omgeving van kan profiteren. Door op meerdere plaatsen in de stad naar synergieën te zoeken, waarmee restproducten een nieuw doel kunnen dienen, kan de hele stad minder afhankelijk worden van import van materiaal.